Written Answers Wednesday 26 October 2005

Scottish Executive

Cancer

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of people in each (a) Glasgow, (b) Edinburgh, (c) Dundee and (d) Aberdeen parliamentary constituency area died from lung cancer compared with the national average in each of the last five years.

George Lyon: The information requested is given in the following table.

  Deaths from Lung Cancer1 as a Percentage of the Population2 Scotland and Selected Parliamentary Constituencies

  

 Area
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003
 2004


 Percentages


 Scotland
 0.08
 0.08
 0.08
 0.08
 0.08


 Glasgow Anniesland
 0.13
 0.12
 0.13
 0.12
 0.10


 Glasgow Baillieston
 0.12
 0.14
 0.11
 0.14
 0.12


 Glasgow Cathcart
 0.07
 0.09
 0.07
 0.08
 0.09


 Glasgow Govan
 0.10
 0.11
 0.10
 0.08
 0.06


 Glasgow Kelvin
 0.05
 0.06
 0.09
 0.07
 0.07


 Glasgow Maryhill
 0.11
 0.14
 0.13
 0.10
 0.10


 Glasgow Pollock
 0.13
 0.13
 0.15
 0.11
 0.13


 Glasgow Rutherglen
 0.08
 0.10
 0.10
 0.08
 0.10


 Glasgow Shettleston
 0.13
 0.13
 0.12
 0.14
 0.13


 Glasgow Springburn
 0.13
 0.11
 0.12
 0.13
 0.14


 Edinburgh Central
 0.09
 0.08
 0.06
 0.06
 0.06


 Edinburgh East and Musselburgh
 0.11
 0.09
 0.10
 0.07
 0.09


 Edinburgh North and Leith
 0.07
 0.07
 0.07
 0.06
 0.06


 Edinburgh Pentlands
 0.05
 0.05
 0.06
 0.08
 0.07


 Edinburgh South
 0.06
 0.06
 0.06
 0.05
 0.06


 Edinburgh West
 0.07
 0.07
 0.07
 0.06
 0.06


 Dundee East
 0.09
 0.10
 0.09
 0.11
 0.09


 Dundee West
 0.08
 0.08
 0.09
 0.07
 0.09


 Aberdeen Central
 0.08
 0.09
 0.08
 0.07
 0.07


 Aberdeen North
 0.07
 0.07
 0.09
 0.07
 0.07


 Aberdeen South
 0.07
 0.07
 0.06
 0.06
 0.07



  Notes:

  1. International classification of diseases, tenth revision (ICD10), codes C33-C34 - malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung.

  2. Percentages based on 2001 Census populations.

Cancer

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of people in each (a) Glasgow, (b) Edinburgh, (c) Dundee and (d) Aberdeen parliamentary constituency area died from cancer compared with the national average in each of the last five years.

George Lyon: The information requested is given in the following table.

  Deaths from Cancer1 as a Percentage of the Population2 Scotland and Selected Parliamentary Constituencies

  

 Area
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003
 2004


 Percentages


 Scotland
 0.30
 0.30
 0.30
 0.30
 0.30


 Glasgow Anniesland
 0.40
 0.41
 0.39
 0.35
 0.39


 Glasgow Baillieston
 0.32
 0.37
 0.35
 0.35
 0.36


 Glasgow Cathcart
 0.29
 0.29
 0.32
 0.31
 0.29


 Glasgow Govan
 0.30
 0.35
 0.30
 0.29
 0.25


 Glasgow Kelvin
 0.25
 0.23
 0.27
 0.25
 0.25


 Glasgow Maryhill
 0.33
 0.36
 0.38
 0.34
 0.34


 Glasgow Pollock
 0.38
 0.37
 0.41
 0.41
 0.40


 Glasgow Rutherglen
 0.31
 0.32
 0.34
 0.30
 0.33


 Glasgow Shettleston
 0.39
 0.38
 0.38
 0.41
 0.35


 Glasgow Springburn
 0.35
 0.38
 0.33
 0.42
 0.42


 Edinburgh Central
 0.29
 0.28
 0.22
 0.25
 0.22


 Edinburgh East and Musselburgh
 0.38
 0.36
 0.32
 0.28
 0.36


 Edinburgh North and Leith
 0.25
 0.30
 0.25
 0.28
 0.25


 Edinburgh Pentlands
 0.22
 0.24
 0.21
 0.27
 0.24


 Edinburgh South
 0.24
 0.28
 0.25
 0.25
 0.27


 Edinburgh West
 0.29
 0.29
 0.31
 0.31
 0.28


 Dundee East
 0.34
 0.36
 0.31
 0.35
 0.33


 Dundee West
 0.32
 0.31
 0.34
 0.32
 0.33


 Aberdeen Central
 0.33
 0.33
 0.29
 0.27
 0.26


 Aberdeen North
 0.25
 0.27
 0.24
 0.25
 0.30


 Aberdeen South
 0.30
 0.30
 0.25
 0.28
 0.29



  Notes:

  1. International classification of diseases, tenth revision (ICD10), codes C00-C97 - malignant neoplasms.

  2. Percentages based on 2001 Census populations.

Community Councils

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to strengthen the role of community councils.

George Lyon: We are currently undertaking a review of community councils and a discussion paper will issue shortly.

Community Planning

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how the success of community planning partnerships is measured.

Mr Tom McCabe: At local level, Section 17 of the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 requires local authorities, as facilitators of the community planning process, to report regularly to their local communities on what community planning has achieved, including evidence of improved outcomes for service users. The overall intention of the act is to offer "trust within a framework": it is for community planning partners to decide on local priorities and how their achievement should be measured and reported. Accordingly, Statutory Guidance makes clear that reports on community planning should be "geared towards the local community rather than the Executive".

  At national level, the continuing programme of Audits of Best Value and Community Planning, performed by Audit Scotland on behalf of the Accounts Commission, provides an independent measure of the extent to which each council has fulfilled its "statutory duty to secure Best Value and to initiate and facilitate the Community Planning process".

  In addition, Audit Scotland is currently carrying out an extensive baseline review of community planning partnerships on behalf of the Accounts Commission and the Auditor General, for publication early in 2006. Audit Scotland describes the aim of the study as "to review the progress made by councils and partner organisations (including community and local voluntary groups) in developing Community Planning since the 2003 Local Government in Scotland Act came into force."

  Statutory Guidance on Community Planning was issued by Scottish ministers in April 2004 and is published at www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/localgov/cpsg-00.asp.

Council Tax

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish any correspondence it has issued to local authorities or to COSLA in respect of increases in council tax.

George Lyon: The Scottish Executive already publishes formal correspondence issued to COSLA and to councils on financial matters, including the council tax. An example is Finance Circular No. 08/2004, issued to COSLA and to all councils by the Executive’s Finance and Central Services Department on 8 December 2004, which said:

  Ministers confirmed during their meeting with COSLA elected members on 24 November 2004 that the current three-year settlement for local government is based on councils increasing council tax by no more than 2.5% in 2006-07 and 2007-08 as a contribution to the overall GAE uplift underlying the settlement. For 2005-06, ministers have confirmed that they expect council tax rises to be kept as low as possible and have urged local authorities to take all steps possible to improve council tax collection rates to help minimise council tax rises.

  The full text of the circular is available at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/local-government/17999/Financecirceightof04

Council Tax

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to reform the council tax system.

George Lyon: The Executive has accepted that there is a need to review the performance of the present council tax system in Scotland. That is why we established an independent review of local government finance to undertake a detailed and comprehensive investigation into the council tax and other tax models. The committee is due to report in 2006.

Council Tax

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will seek parliamentary time to debate council tax reform.

George Lyon: In the debate on council tax in the Parliament on 14 April 2005 (on Motion S2M-2693), the (then) Deputy Minister for Finance and Local Government Reform said that the Executive had established an independent review of local government finance and that it would now be necessary "to wait to see what conclusions it reaches." The time for a further debate is therefore after the Local Government Finance Review Committee has reported.

Employment

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to offer financial incentives for small businesses and employers to open up flexible working as a means to stimulating the Scottish economy and "unblocking the hidden brain drain", as referred to in the Equal Opportunities Commission’s report, Britain’s Hidden Brain Drain .

Allan Wilson: We have no plans to offer financial incentives for small businesses and employers to open up flexible working. Many small businesses already offer flexible working because they recognise the business case.

Employment

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the public sector employment statistics from 1999 to 2004 on a basis consistent with those published for the first two quarters of 2005.

Mr Tom McCabe: Work is currently on-going to publish public sector employment statistics for Scotland from 1999 to 2004 in the next Quarterly Public Sector Employment Statistics release which will be published on 13 January 2006. This work is dependent on the Cabinet Office being able to provide historic data on civil service employment in time for publication.

  In addition, the Office for National Statistics will publish an article on public sector employment trends on 28 October 2005. This article will include quarterly estimates for public sector employment in Scotland from 1999 which are calculated by adjusting the Labour Force Survey estimate of public sector employment. This is a different basis from the statistics published for the first two quarters of 2005 by the Executive which are based on direct returns from public sector organisations.

Energy

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made, or intends to make, representations to Her Majesty’s Government and Ofgem in respect of the impact of rising electricity prices on Scottish industry under the New Electricity Trading Arrangements which has resulted in it being stated that prices have risen from £15 per megawatt hour in 2000 to a current £50 per megawatt hour with almost no differences between suppliers.

Allan Wilson: Rising energy prices are very largely a result of global and UK market forces. UK electricity markets are regulated by Ofgem.

  Ofgem has stated that the introduction of the British Electricity Trading and Transmission Arrangements (BETTA) which started on 1 April 2005 has not resulted in an increase in electricity prices. Ofgem has also stated that BETTA created a competitive Great Britain electricity trading and transmission market which has lowered the cost to suppliers of supplying customers in Scotland and has provided access to the wider market to Scottish generators, including renewable generators.

Environment

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in light of the Minister for Environment and Rural Development’s recent announcement that the greenhouse gas inventory for Scotland has shown a steady decline in emissions, with emissions of the main greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, having fallen by 8% since 1990, it can provide an analysis of the main contributory factors to the decline.

Ross Finnie: Chapter 3 of Greenhouse Gas Inventories for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland 1990-2003,  (Bib. number 37621) copies of which are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, provides a commentary on emission trends in Scotland and changes in emissions from key source sectors.

Ferry Services

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the age profile is of the Caledonian MacBrayne passenger ferry fleet and how many replacement vessels are likely to be ordered between now and 2009.

Tavish Scott: Information on the ages of each of the vessels presently owned by Caledonian MacBrayne is as follows:

  

 Name of Vessel
 Year Built
 Age of Vessel


MV Bruernish
 1973
 32


MV Canna
 1973
 32


MV Juno
 1974
 31


MV Jupiter
 1974
 31


MV Eigg
 1975
 30


MV Raasay
 1976
 29


MV Isle of Cumbrae
 1977
 28


MV Saturn
 1978
 27


MV Isle of Arran
 1984
 21


MV Hebridean Isles
 1985
 20


MV Loch Linnhe
 1986
 19


MV Loch Riddon
 1986
 19


MV Loch Striven
 1986
 19


MV Loch Ranza
 1987
 18


MV Isle of Mull
 1988
 17


MV Lord of the Isles
 1989
 16


MV Loch Dunvegan
 1991
 14


MV Loch Fyne
 1991
 14


MV Loch Buie
 1992
 13


MV Loch Tarbert
 1992
 13


MV Caledonian Isles
 1993
 12


MV Isle of Lewis
 1995
 10


MV Loch Bhruisda
 1996
 9


MV Loch Alainn
 1997
 8


MV Clansman
 1998
 7


MV Hebrides
 2000
 5


MV Loch Nevis
 2000
 5


MV Coruisk
 2003
 2


MV Loch Portain
 2003
 2


MV Bute
 2005
 0



  Caledonian MacBrayne Ltd has started the tendering process for a new Largs-Cumbrae vessel and will make a contract award in due course. We expect to approve further improvements to the company’s fleet over the period to 2009 but final decisions have yet to be taken on individual orders.

Food Safety

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has taken steps to ensure that meat coming into Scotland undergoes the same rigorous safety checks as meat produced in Scotland.

Lewis Macdonald: Meat entering Scotland must come from an approved country and establishment which has food safety and hygiene standards compatible with European legislation. The European Commission’s Food and Veterinary Office undertakes inspections of the authorities of counties outwith the EU to check their standards. At the port of entry into the EU, documentary and physical checks may be undertaken on the boxed meat for presence of specified risk material (SRM) for BSE. Meat imported into the UK from other EU member states is checked at the point of destination for the presence of SRM.

G8 Summit

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-18697 by Cathy Jamieson on 26 September 2005, what the additional cost to it was, over and above the core cost, of the Airwave communications system being fully operational for the G8 summit at Gleneagles and what aspects of the network’s use were not covered by the existing budget.

Cathy Jamieson: We have previously said that all reasonable additional costs incurred by Scottish police forces for policing G8 would be met. An announcement about these costs will be made later this year.

Justice

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many convictions there were for drug dealing in each year since 1999-2000, broken down by police force area.

Cathy Jamieson: The available information is given in the following table.

  Persons with a Charge Proved in Scottish Courts for Drug Dealing Offences, 1999-20031

  

 Police Force Area
 1999
 2000
 2001
 2002
 20032


 Northern 
 61
 45
 72
 66
 85


 Grampian 
 155
 118
 117
 132
 155


 Tayside 
 123
 117
 98
 130
 125


 Fife 
 110
 41
 72
 89
 86


 Lothian and Borders 
 205
 198
 199
 164
 202


 Central 
 85
 65
 100
 89
 125


 Strathclyde 
 794
 699
 697
 645
 827


 Dumfries and Galloway
 62
 44
 37
 47
 52


 All Forces
 1,595
 1,327
 1,392
 1,362
 1,657



  Notes:

  1. Where main offence includes illegal importation, production and supply of drugs, and money laundering and other related offences.

  2. Includes estimated data.

Justice

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many female offenders who defaulted on a fine in (a) all sheriff summary courts, (b) Glasgow Sheriff Summary Court, (c) Edinburgh Sheriff Summary Court and (d) Glasgow Stipendiary Magistrates Court were sent to prison as a result of that default in (i) 2004 and (ii) 2005.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The available information for 2004 is given in the following table:

  

 
 2004


 All Sheriff courts (Summary and Solemn)
 290


 Edinburgh Sheriff Court (Summary and Solemn)
 35


 Glasgow Sheriff Court (Summary and Solemn)
 20


 Glasgow Stipendiary Magistrates Court
 0



  Note: 2005 information is not yet available.

Justice

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much was due in outstanding fines in each sheriff court in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is shown in the following tables. The values include confiscation orders, compensation orders, fines transferred from England and Wales as well as fines imposed by the High Court which are recoverable by the Sheriff Clerk. Not all of the outstanding balance will be due to fines in default as a large proportion will be within their valid payment period.

  Outstanding Balance/Financial Penalties Imposed

  

 
 O/S Bal
 Imposed
 O/S Bal
 Imposed
 O/S Bal
 Imposed


 31-3-01
 2000-01
 31-3-02
 2001-02
 31-3-03
 2002-03


 Aberdeen
 431,656
 716,978
 524,565
 1,076,343
 521,299
 1,096,583


 Airdrie
 340,399
 384,138
 384,256
 407,503
 340,921
 454,624


 Alloa
 87,803
 119,609
 97,113
 194,874
 189,083
 202,240


 Arbroath
 115,798
 167,390
 112,063
 182,196
 101,204
 189,278


 Ayr
 254,193
 445,292
 269,330
 397,301
 256,498
 433,002


 Banff
 77,973
 216,623
 64,709
 143,721
 50,776
 173,845


 Campbeltown
 48,201
 41,136
 30,907
 43,461
 30,606
 62,675


 Cupar
 45,203
 86,927
 42,832
 107,044
 46,796
 109,162


 Dingwall
 55,253
 93,420
 52,019
 106,769
 61,165
 109,567


 Dornoch
 27,508
 47,453
 31,985
 60,766
 31,497
 43,214


 Dumbarton
 201,231
 256,051
 212,324
 245,927
 222,811
 284,139


 Dumfries
 227,680
 395,292
 200,722
 358,564
 235,568
 448,011


 Dundee
 372,722
 421,263
 374,870
 428,544
 428,355
 488,344


 Dunfermline
 258,921
 333,624
 252,694
 321,870
 300,120
 389,372


 Dunoon
 39,889
 44,937
 41,602
 57,933
 49,592
 68,152


 Duns
 N/A
 2,985
 59,887
 33,553
 58,636
 65,753


 Edinburgh
 1,544,831
 2,099,740
 1,556,178
 1,831,238
 2,615,488
 2,801,732


 Elgin
 188,274
 286,736
 221,538
 322,124
 243,445
 362,520


 Falkirk
 402,623
 410,404
 407,634
 1,403,917
 523,931
 600,570


 Forfar
 57,802
 122,576
 186,752
 255,291
 74,163
 150,451


 Fort William
 35,961
 66,435
 42,003
 128,421
 51,570
 105,028


 Glasgow
 1,926,508
 1,172,942
 2,053,024
 1,363,549
 1,682,540
 1,353,975


 Greenock
 182,060
 178,653
 199,091
 186,578
 240,662
 231,454


 Haddington
 77,317
 164,543
 91,308
 156,744
 115,537
 226,299


 Hamilton
 641,287
 684,758
 667,649
 903,355
 704,370
 981,125


 Inverness
 171,331
 262,028
 199,851
 421,798
 205,158
 378,514


 Jedburgh
 70,461
 114,718
 81,984
 108,687
 97,723
 111,629


 Kilmarnock
 463,117
 815,744
 509,697
 823,220
 510,198
 700,967


 Kirkcaldy
 274,792
 332,234
 297,005
 326,270
 338,723
 440,537


 Kirkcudbright
 55,315
 80,349
 53,293
 72,377
 83,353
 107,974


 Kirkwall
 38,666
 50,787
 31,349
 40,105
 36,834
 110,775


 Lanark
 101,119
 216,143
 86,180
 224,604
 90,418
 196,892


 Lerwick
 30,374
 77,991
 28,062
 88,600
 35,426
 88,037


 Linlithgow
 350,285
 415,550
 310,300
 413,601
 384,131
 560,935


 Lochmaddy
 5,572
 19,974
 5,210
 16,740
 7,215
 12,656


 Oban
 42,568
 99,943
 42,019
 105,982
 43,851
 96,452


 Paisley
 579,736
 492,549
 577,097
 575,434
 628,463
 569,116


 Peebles
 15,378
 45,303
 16,907
 55,945
 29,736
 47,487


 Perth
 229,480
 331,117
 269,293
 439,545
 319,689
 526,406


 Peterhead
 98,281
 134,284
 109,984
 166,627
 124,981
 253,785


 Portree
 10,466
 13,950
 5,282
 18,394
 10,274
 22,137


 Rothesay
 13,919
 17,286
 11,058
 18,501
 11,574
 16,686


 Selkirk
 35,193
 69,436
 63,733
 104,042
 112,506
 121,251


 Stirling
 135,943
 254,291
 134,431
 256,692
 187,519
 385,849


 Stonehaven
 31,380
 85,275
 31,832
 124,639
 38,127
 95,204


 Stornoway
 43,317
 60,071
 38,204
 86,162
 43,425
 99,293


 Stranraer
 259,490
 278,139
 246,695
 232,504
 230,103
 220,382


 Tain
 82,014
 97,381
 90,179
 129,999
 80,793
 118,767


 Wick
 46,786
 105,004
 117,223
 131,266
 77,517
 164,887


 Overall Total
 10.8m
 13.4m
 11.5m
 15.7m
 12.9m
 16.9m



  Note: *Figures For Jedburgh and Duns Amalgamated For 00/01.

  Outstanding Balance/Financial Penalties Imposed

  

 
 O/S Bal
 Imposed
 O/S Bal
 Imposed


 31-3-04
 2003-04
 31-3-05
 2004-05


 Aberdeen
 640,533
 1,260,128
 621,611
 1,291,718


 Airdrie
 319,253
 465,538
 451,721
 633,854


 Alloa
 222,764
 388,609
 362,072
 301,997


 Arbroath
 140,521
 258,795
 115,305
 192,703


 Ayr
 299,287
 545,228
 298,479
 423,021


 Banff
 56,370
 142,191
 91,515
 250,830


 Campbeltown
 34,681
 53,180
 32,954
 66,304


 Cupar
 54,503
 124,827
 45,326
 99,807


 Dingwall
 72,942
 159,972
 81,610
 202,392


 Dornoch
 37,896
 64,753
 31,642
 70,337


 Dumbarton
 247,815
 303,726
 273,659
 343,992


 Dumfries
 238,104
 426,512
 241,970
 557,541


 Dundee
 487,528
 661,929
 406,280
 602,120


 Dunfermline
 336,086
 405,480
 300,543
 307,891


 Dunoon
 44,034
 67,459
 41,829
 58,477


 Duns
 69,710
 74,157
 69,020
 69,247


 Edinburgh
 2,556,130
 2,108,646
 2,780,098
 1,788,215


 Elgin
 338,194
 469,638
 359,133
 566,442


 Falkirk
 537,528
 512,564
 488,935
 505,165


 Forfar
 80,950
 226,551
 80,089
 230,360


 Fort William
 65,432
 128,843
 61,120
 179,289


 Glasgow
 1,639,305
 1,489,374
 1,779,867
 1,695,185


 Greenock
 228,833
 215,892
 156,601
 261,336


 Haddington
 123,945
 204,645
 105,682
 156,453


 Hamilton
 733,288
 856,159
 875,305
 912,104


 Inverness
 317,621
 576,177
 325,180
 527,185


 Jedburgh
 101,478
 120,578
 110,571
 120,633


 Kilmarnock
 554,213
 758,741
 711,147
 819,737


 Kirkcaldy
 461,033
 536,371
 452,647
 470,268


 Kirkcudbright
 83,893
 110,362
 87,863
 122,316


 Kirkwall
 37,882
 73,431
 36,668
 76,769


 Lanark
 90,454
 186,302
 91,524
 175,451


 Lerwick
 54,330
 118,870
 45,427
 147,517


 Linlithgow
 353,763
 695,755
 441,650
 415,474


 Lochmaddy
 7,252
 19,793
 9,251
 25,244


 Oban
 68,861
 133,267
 53,053
 110,945


 Paisley
 569,965
 662,492
 522,622
 640,018


 Peebles
 33,561
 61,324
 26,213
 46,855


 Perth
 345,541
 641,028
 323,367
 567,122


 Peterhead
 118,817
 513,306
 139,672
 220,841


 Portree
 11,279
 22,723
 12,222
 51,070


 Rothesay
 11,007
 16,874
 15,374
 19,234


 Selkirk
 106,765
 115,953
 117,286
 143,492


 Stirling
 205,350
 358,654
 201,842
 387,117


 Stonehaven
 39,162
 155,646
 51,021
 123,337


 Stornoway
 62,498
 119,070
 77,917
 99,069


 Stranraer
 161,556
 237,310
 156,591
 262,852


 Tain
 103,894
 129,656
 141,120
 133,388


 Wick
 88,645
 189,854
 70,284
 132,821


 Overall Total
 13.6m
 18.2m
 14.4m
 17.6m



  Note: *Figures For Jedburgh & Duns Amalgamated For 00/01.

Justice

Euan Robson (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to exempt weaponry of an historic nature from legislation to control knife crime and, if so, how.

Cathy Jamieson: Existing legislation on knives and swords already provides for exclusions or exemptions for antique weapons and weapons with blades for religious, cultural or historic purposes. The Executive has no plans, in bringing forward proposals to strengthen legislation on bladed weapons, to remove such exemptions.

  The recent consultation paper on proposals for restricting the sale of knives and swords also stated clearly that "The Executive has no wish unnecessarily to restrict or adversely impact on cultural, sporting or dramatic activities. We value the many traditions and pursuits that contribute towards our country’s heritage and diversity (Tackling Knife Crime: A Consultation)."

Licensing

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive which trade bodies the Deputy Minister for Finance, Public Service Reform and Parliamentary Business was referring to during his evidence to the Local Government and Transport Committee on 3 October 2005 as being supportive of the Executive’s proposal to use the maximum capacity of premises in relation to assessing the overprovision of licensed premises.

George Lyon: The issue of maximum capacity has been discussed by members of the National Licensing Forum.

  However, comments made by individual members of the forum are non-attributable.

Licensing

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive which trade bodies the Deputy Minister for Finance, Public Service Reform and Parliamentary Business was referring to during his evidence to the Local Government and Transport Committee on 27 September 2005 ( Official Report col. 2895) as having made representations to him on amendment 174 to the Licensing (Scotland) Bill and what the nature was of such representations.

George Lyon: This issue was discussed by the Expert Reference Group established in May 2004 to work with the Scottish Executive. This group was set up to share information and expertise to assist the development of a range of detailed issues, including procedural issues relating to licensing.

  Copies of minutes of the group’s meetings are available on the Executive’s website.

Licensing

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it anticipates that it will follow the guidance set out in its letter of 20 March 2001 to the Procedures Committee, or any updated guidance, in respect of Executive amendments to bills by lodging any amendments it proposes to be made during Stage 3 consideration of the Licensing (Scotland) Bill by 3.00pm at least five sitting days before the expiry of the deadline for lodging amendments or whether it expects to depart from its guidance, and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.

George Lyon: We fully expect to adhere to the guidelines in lodging any Scottish Executive Amendments.

Ministerial Correspondence

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform will respond to my letter of 6 September 2005 regarding taskforces.

Mr Tom McCabe: I replied to your letter on the 5 October 2005.

Prison Service

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the design capacity is of each prison.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The information is:

  

 Aberdeen
 154


 Barlinnie
 1,000


 Cornton Vale
 375


 Dumfries
 178


 Edinburgh
 756


 Glenochil
 440


 Greenock
 254


 Inverness
 108


 Kilmarnock
 596


 Low Moss
 326


 Open Estate
 432


 Perth
 449


 Peterhead
 306


 Polmont
 650


 Shotts
 528

Prison Service

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the maximum number of prisoners is that each prison is contracted to take under the new contracts introduced this year by the Scottish Prison Service.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The information is:

  

 Aberdeen
 225


 Barlinnie
 1,509


 Cornton Vale
 375


 Dumfries
 189


 Edinburgh
 786


 Glenochil
 440


 Greenock
 300


 Inverness
 150


 Low Moss
 326


 Open Estate
 431


 Perth
 461


 Peterhead
 306


 Polmont
 690


 Shotts
 516

Prison Service

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the current contract with Reliance prohibits smoking in vehicles used for prisoner transport and, if so, what action is being taken to enforce the prohibition.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  The contract provides for Reliance Custodial Services to have a smoking policy. The policy is a matter for Reliance but we understand that a no smoking policy applies, and that smoke detection equipment is located in their vehicles. The contract can be viewed on the SPS website at www.sps.gov.uk.

Scottish Executive Accommodation

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-18950 by Mr Tom McCabe on 16 September 2005, whether it will provide details of the square footage of primary office space in each property it owns.

Mr Tom McCabe: The primary office space in square footage for each of our owned office buildings are as provided as follows:

  

 Owned Properties
 Area (ft²)


 St Andrew’s House, Regent Road, Edinburgh
 153,032


 Old Governor’s House, Regent Road, Edinburgh
 3,340


 Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive, Edinburgh
 198,088


 Cotgreen Road, Tweedbank, Galashiels
 8,642


 Cadzow Court, Wellhall Road, Hamilton
 6,259


 Longman House, 28 Longman Road, Inverness
 19,541


 Knowsley, Fairfield Road, Inverness
 2,796


 Thainstone Court, Inverurie
 17,853


 Tankerness Lane, Kirkwall
 7,974


 Cameron House, Albany Street, Oban
 9,616


 Jeanfield House, Jeanfield Road, Perth
 8,973


 Scorrybreck, Portree
 2,605


 10 Keith Street, Stornoway
 3,657


 Station Street, Stranraer
 1,679


 Strathbeg House, Clarence Street, Thurso
 5,617


 Victoria Quay, Leith, Edinburgh
 297,495


 Balivanich, Benbecula
 2,562

Scottish Executive Accommodation

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-18951 by Mr Tom McCabe on 16 September 2005, whether it will provide details of the square footage of primary office space in each property it rents.

Mr Tom McCabe: The square footage of primary office space in each of our rented office buildings is as follows:

  

 Leased Properties
 Area (ft²)


 23 Walker Street, Edinburgh
 2,830


 Southlands, 32 Reidhaven Street, Elgin
 3,923


 Europa Building, Glasgow
 40,845


 Meridian Court, 5 Cadogan Street, Glasgow
 63,368


 Pentland House, 47 Robbs Loan, Edinburgh
 94,970


 130 Blochairn Road, Glasgow
 1,346


 Ord Croft, Lairg
 1,083


 Unit 4 Callender Business Park, Falkirk
 4,574


 Strathearn House, Broxden, Perth
 28,453


 Tiree
 1,115


 Kinlochleven
 900

Scottish Executive Funding

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has allocated to public agencies, non-departmental public bodies and any other quangos to enable them to pay their non-domestic rates in each year since 1997.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive does not allocate specific sums for non-domestic rates to public agencies, non-departmental public bodies and other quangos. It is for these bodies to find the appropriate resources from within the budgets provided by the Scottish Executive to meet such commitments as non-domestic rates.

Scottish Executive Funding

Mr Jim Wallace (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much each local authority was allocated in the distribution of the "Remaining Leisure and Recreation" line of Grant Aided Expenditure in 2005-06.

Mr Tom McCabe: This information is available on the Scottish Executive’s Grant Aided Expenditure website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/about/ASD/SR/00018209/home.aspx .

Young People

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many youth clubs there were in each local authority area in each of the last 10 years.

Robert Brown: : This information is not collected centrally.